My first house in Auchinairn was a scheme shaped like a horseshoe, When I lived there in the 50's the Irish names of the families were in the majority in that scheme.Dempsey, Shields, McCann, Maguire, Laverty, Cassidy, Sally, McGraw, Rooney, Carrigan, McKinstry, Macateer, Mulherne to name a few.

I've often wondered what effect the large number of Irish immigrants to Glasgow has had on the Glasgow accent and the famous Glasgow Patter.

Although the Scottish terms 'Maw' and 'Paw' are commonly used in Glasgow for mum and dad, the Irish terms 'Ma' and 'Da' are also commonly used and sometimes even the affectionate Irish term 'Mammy' can be heard in Glasgow's streets.The famous Glasgow insult for a stupid person - eejit - originates in Ireland.In most parts of Scotland the word 'floor' is pronounced 'flair'.In Glasgow it is pronounced 'flerr'. (Irish influence?)Most Scottish people pronounce words such as 'top', 'drop' and 'off' as'toap', 'droap' and 'oaff'. In Glasgow they are pronounced 'tap', 'drap' and 'aff'. (Irish influence?)The word 'ken' as in 'Dae ye ken?' is heard all over Scotland but not in Glasgow. You don't have to travel far from the Glasgow area before you start hearing people saying 'ken'. eg Ayrshire, Stirling, Edinburgh.In fact, 'ken' was probably once used in Glasgow but its use died out in the late 1800s. (Irish influence again?) I suspect Glaswegians considered 'ken' a word for Teuchters (rural Scots).Glaswegians use the proper English word 'know'!Most Scots refer to Glasgow as Glezgae.Glaswegians, however, pronounce their home city's name with a soft 's' : Glesca.

There is an interesting website on Glasgow Patter by John Walker, from which I got some of the above ideas. To see it do a GOOGLE search for GLASGOW PATTER WALKER.

Walker writes about Lallans (the dialect of English spoken in the Lowlands of Scotland) and Ullans (the dialect of English spoken in the northern counties of Ireland which developed from the English spoken by the 17th century Lowland Scottish and Northern English Protestant Planters and the adopted English spoken by the indigenous Catholic Irish whose native tongue was Irish Gaelic.)Since most of the Irish immigrants to Glasgow came from the northern counties of Ireland, Walker discusses how Lallans and Ullans have both influenced the way modern Glaswegians speak.

Our family names (not mentioned) I know there are many variants of the names... Are -

Casey:- From an Irish surname which was derived from Ó Cathasaigh meaning "descendent of Cathasaigh". The name Cathasaigh means "vigilant" in Gaelic.

Cummiskey:- Spelling variations include: Cumiskey, Comisky, Cumisky, Comiskey, MacCumiskey, MacComiskey, Cumiskie etc. First found in Monaghan where they were anciently seated but more recently in Longford, Cavan and Westmeath.

Casey and Cummiskey are certainly Irish surnames as are Carr, Conly, Connelly, Croal, Duffy, Hart and Roach.I would say most of the other surnames you have listed are of Lowland Scots origins. Of these Scots surnames, I know Holmes, Morrison, Sproul, McKean and McConnell are commonly found in Ulster, as are possibly a couple of the others.

Sue, you have a 'mix' of surnames that are probably shared by most Glaswegians.

The last time I was home in Glasgow, I spent some time at the Mitchell Library looking through the 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 Glasgow census records. I was particularly interested in those areas of Glasgow which had large numbers of Irish immigrants such as Royston (formerly Garngad), Townhead, Gorbals, Hutchesontown, Bridgeton, Calton, Cowcaddens, Garscube and Anderston. If a person had been born in Ireland, then the actual county of birth was usually not recorded. The place of birth was simply stated as Ireland. However, in some streets, the actual Irish county of birth was given (thankfully!)

In those census returns where the Irish county of birth was given, I would say that around 90% of them mentioned a county from the ancient Province of Ulster:- Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Derry, Donegal, Down, Fermanagh, Monaghan and Tyrone. Undoubtedly, the county which appeared the most was County Donegal, followed by probably County Down. There were also a few non-Ulster counties mentioned such as Mayo, Sligo, Louth and Wexford.

I think most of the 19th century Irish immigrants to Britain from the southern counties of Ireland went to places such as Liverpool via Dublin. Most of the Irish immigrants to Britain from the northern counties of Ireland settled in the Glasgow area via Belfast and Derry. There was a famous boat that used to bring many Irish immigrants to Glasgow called the Derry Boat.

There was another area of Glasgow in which many of the early Irish immigrants - those that came in the immediate aftermath of the Irish Potato Famine - settled in the late 1840s and early 1850s. It was an inner city area known simply at the time as District 14.

District 14 was enclosed on the north by the Trongate, on the south by Clyde Street, on the west by Stockwell Street and on the east by the Saltmarket. It was basically the inner city area between Glasgow Cross and the River Clyde and contained places such as the Briggait - Bridgegate - and Paddy's Market.

District 14 was described by newspapers of the time as a human cesspit and it was certainly Glasgow's worst slum area in the mid to late 19th century. However, by the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it had been superseded by the more famous Glasgow Irish ghettoes - the Gorbals and the Garngad.

A number of the mid 19th century Irish immigrants to Glasgow (and Liverpool) did not spend a long time in Britain. They only used Britain as a stepping stone before moving on to the United States. For example, there is a large Docherty family in the United States, descended from Irish immigrants who passed through Scotland. These American descendants are still using the incorrect spelling - Docherty - of the Irish surname Dogherty/Dougherty that their illiterate ancestors were given when they first arrived in Scotland (from mainly Donegal.)

A few years ago, I read the introduction to a biography of the famous American actor/dancer Gene Kelly - Eugene Curran Kelly (born 1912, died 1996) - of 'Singing in the Rain' fame. The biography said Gene Kelly's (great)grandfather emigrated from Ireland (possibly Donegal) via Derry to Scotland in the mid 19th century and spent a short time working in the Dunfermline area - if I am recalling correctly - before moving on to Pittsburgh in the United States.

I mentioned in an earlier post that Kelly and Docherty are the 1st and 3rd most commonly found Irish surnames in Scotland respectively. Most of the Dochertys in Scotland originate from the Inishowen Peninsula in northeast Donegal. Many of the Kellys in Scotland originate from southeast Donegal (around Ballybofey) and west Tyrone (around Strabane).

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